"James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury (25 March, 1807 - 17 May, 1889), was an British statesman of the Victorian era. The eldest son of the 2nd Earl, he was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford. He spent several years travelling and making acquaintance with famous people; and in 1841 he had only just been elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative, when his father died and he succeeded to the peerage. His political career, though unimpressive, attracted a good deal of contemporary attention, partly owing to his being Foreign Secretary in 1852 and again in 1858-1859 (he was also Lord Privy Seal in 1866-1868 and in 1874-1876), and partly from his influential position as an active Tory of the old school in the House of Lords at a time when Lord Derby and Benjamin Disraeli were, in their different ways, moulding the Conservatism of the period. His long life, and the publication of his Memoirs of an Ex-Minister in 1884, contributed to his reputation. The Memoirs, charmingly written, full of anecdote, and containing much interesting material for the history of the time, remain his chief title to remembrance. Lord Malmesbury also edited his grandfather's Diaries and Correspondence (1844), and in 1870 published The First Lord Malmesbury and His Friends. He was succeeded as 4th Earl by his nephew, Edward James Harris (1842-1899)."
His London home was at 22A Cavendish Square, W; he belonged to the Carlton Club (for Conservative politicians, unsurprisingly) and the Athenaeum.
His wife was Lady Emma Bennet, daughter of Charles Augustus Bennet, 5th Earl of Tankerville. They apparently had no children (or at least none that survived to a notable age). In 1887 the 3rd Earl of Malmesbury first coined the name "Labrador" in a letter he wrote referring to them as his "Labrador Dogs".
(The 2nd Earl of Malmesbury at Heron Court had used his St. John's dog for the shooting sports in England as early as 1809. The second Earl was born in 1778 and was the most influential person in keeping the Labrador ("St. John's Dogs") breed alive. He started the first kennel of Labradors. He kept his kennel well stocked until his death in 1841.)
The brother of the 3rd earl was Edward Alfred Harris. He was born in 1808, and was the presumptive heir until he died sometime between 1879 and 1889. Edward was an officer in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of admiral, and was in Parliament 1844-1852. He thereafter worked for the Foreign Office, being assigned to the legations in Peru, Chili, Switzerland and the Netherlands (all between 1852 and 1877. His London house was at 11 Upper Wimpole Street, W.
Admiral Harris was married to the daughter of a naval captain, and had (historically) one son: Edward James Harris (born 1842, died 1899), a justice of the peace. Edward James Harris lived at Heron Court, Christchurch, Hants (the seat of the Earls of Malmesbury, famous for its kennels and good duck hunting) -- thus essentially living at his uncle, the Earl's, country home.
Edward James Harris succeeded to the title as 4th Earl of Malmesbury in 1889 upon the death of his uncle. Historically, his son, James Edward Harris (b. 1872) became the 5th earl in 1899.
Martin Harris, born in 1863, is the much younger brother of
Edward James Harris, who has just a few weeks ago gained the title of 4th
Earl. The Earl's son (thus Martin's nephew), James, has the title of Viscount Fitzharris (one of the
Earldom's secondary titles). The father ("the admiral") and mother of the Earl and Martin died
within the last decade. Various acts of entail and strict settlement
encumber the Earldom's lands; Martin's personal income is mostly derived from
his father's will, which left him the townhouse (11 Upper Wimpole Street,
London W) and several hundred pounds a year until his 32nd birthday.